Adjustable mooring cable



M 31, 1949- K. 1.. PECK ETAL ADJUSTABLE Moonme CABLE Filed July 25, 1946 IN V EN TOR KENNETH L. PECK REINHOLD E BALMER BY ATTORNEY.

Patented May 31, 1949 2,472,026 ADJUSTABLE MOORING CABLE Kenneth L. Peck, United States Navy, and Reinhold F. Balmer, United States Navy, Philadelphia, Pa.; said Balmer assignor to said Peck Application July 25, 194.6, Serial No. 686,098

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

4 Claims.

This invention relates to mooring devices and more particularly to improvements in adJustable mooring cable connections.

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) In the present invention we provide a mooring device by means of which a movable object may be easily moved to a supporting surface or another object. To accomplish this result we provide a toggle lever pivoted on a yoke with a link secured to the toggle lever adjacent the pivot and with the end of a cable connected to the link. The other end of the yoke is provided with a slot for the reception of a cable having spacers mounted thereon. These spacers are so constructed that when the cable is received in the slot of the yoke,

the spacers arranged between the slot and the end of the cable regulate the effective length of the cable. The device to be moored is thus secured with some slack in the cable and movement of the toggle lever on its pivot takes up the remaining slack and locks the mooring in position.

An efiicient mooring cable, while capable of use in many ways, is particularly desirable for use in connection with the operation of aircraft. While planes are awaiting operation or while being serv- I iced and repaired, it is necessary to moor them against the forces of wind and weather and it is also necessary to moor planes when they are stored on the flight deck of a carrier. In normal times, this may be done by placing chocks in front of the wheels. In more severe weather, it has been the practice to moor them by means of cables or ropes fastened to the landing gear of the airplane at one end and to fittings on the deck of the ship at the opposite end. When an attempt is made to moor a plane with a piece of rope or cable, it is diflicult to get mooring lines as taut as is desired by merely tying the cable in place. In the present invention we provide a mooring device which can be secured at one end to the aircraft and at the other end to the supporting deck or floor, most of the slack in the cable then taken up by means of the spacers provided at one end of the cable and the remaining slack then taken up by means of the toggle lever.

The mooring device also possesses the advau. tage that it can be as easily and quickly disconnected by swinging the toggle lever on its pivot which releases the tension in the cables providing sufficient slack to permit the end of the cable to be removed from the slot in the yoke and thus completely disconnect one end of the cable from the plane.

The above, and other objects of the invention. will be more fully apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing in which the figure is an isometric view of the yoke and toggle lever showing the ends of cables connected thereto.

In the accompanying drawing the invention, as illustrated, consists of a cable I having a plurality of spacers 2 slidably mounted thereon. The spacers are in the form of sleeves or collars of a size to fit on the cable and are prevented from sliding ofi the end of the cable by any suitable means, such as ferrule 3. The end of the cable I, having the spacers 2, is adapted to be received in a yoke 4 which, as shown, may be provided with asubstantially U-shaped slot 5 at one end of any such size that the cable itself can slide through the slot, but which is too small for passage of the spacers 2. A toggle lever 6 is pivoted to the yoke at a point remote from the slot 5 and may be pivoted as illustrated at 9 at the other end of the yoke. Link I is in turn pivotally connected to the toggle lever as illustrated by the reference numeral 8 at a point spaced from the pivot. A cable fitting I0 carrying a cable II is secured to the other end of the link as indicated at I2. The other ends of the cables I and II may be provided with cable fittings I3 having eyes I4 to permit them to be secured to some suitable fastening means. The edges of the spacers 2 are preferably beveled as at I5 to permit easy separation.

The operation of the device will be apparent from the foregoing description. When the two cables I and I I are used to moor a plane and to be secured to suitable supports on opposite sides of the plane, the fittings I 3 are first secured and the cable I is passed through the yoke. When this cable has been fed through the yoke to an adjustment which will make it relatively tight, the cable is placed in the slot 5 with one of the spacers 2 at each side of the slot as indicated. The toggle lever B is then swung on its pivot from an open to a closed position. Thismoves the pivot of the link 8 around the pivot 9 of the toggle member and draws the end of the cable I I toward the yoke thus taking up the remaining slack. The device may be as readily released by swinging the toggle lever 6 to an open position which produces enough slack in the mooring to permit the cable I to be readily removed from the slot 5. The invention has been illustrated with two separate cables I and II forming a part of the structure, but it is apparent that these two cables may in fact be the opposite ends of a single cable and the device may be used for many other purposes than the mooring of air ships to which the description has been particularly addressed.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that this 3 device greatly facilitates the mooring of aircraft by the quickness with which it can be engaged and disengaged, its selective length and positive means of tensioning. It is also light enough to be carried on board the plane.

While a particular embodiment @of "this invention has been illustrated and described herein, it is not intended that this invention be limited to such disclosure, and changes and modifications may be made and incorporated within tthecscope of the claims.

The invention described herein maytbe :rnanufactured and used by or for the iGovernment [of the United States of America for governmental purposes Without the payment of -any royalties thereon or therefor.

We claim:

1. A mooring device comprisinga pair oftcable ends, spacers slidably mounted ontone of theucable ends, a stop on the cable end beyond the spacers, a yoke comprising a pair of side members, .an

end member connecting the side members :and having a slot'thereinto receivethe saidicable end between a pair of spacers, a toggle lever pivoted to the yoke adjacent'the'other'end of'the yoke,

and means for connectingthe :secondcable end "to the toggle lever'at a point spaced from its'pivot.

2. A mooring'devicecomprisinga'pair of fcab'le =ends, spacers-arranged-on one ofthe cable entis,

astop on the cable end beyondthe spacers, a;yoke .30

size that'the cable -'end canjpass through it and *between the side members "of *th'eydkefi'but being smaller than the size of the spacers, a toggle lever pivoted to the yoke adjacent its other end, and a link connected to the toggle lever at a point spaced from the pivot, the second cable end being connected to the link.

4. Inalmooring device using cables, means for *drawing "'two cable ends together comprising a series of spacers slidably mounted on one of the table ends, a stop at the extremity of said first Lcableendslsleyond the spacers, a toggle lever linkagehaving'a'lever handle pivotally connected at ea'zpomtzspaceiiffmmiits inner end to the second newbie-mid, and a u-shaped yoke member having "its'cpen'end'pivotally connected to the inner end mfthe-leverhandle and having a slot in its closed end for receiving said first cable end between a pain-fifths spacers whereby said cable end may be inserted in the.slot,-itaking up manually all of the slack-betweenthe cable ends by moving as many spacers as possible beyond the slot with the lever .handlein the full extendedposition of the linkage, sothat whenthelever'handle'is'operatedthe linkage willbe shortened totig'hten'the'cableends.

KENNETH L. PECK. REINHOLD '"F.

REFERENCES CITED The .following references are -.of l-record lin -.the file of this .patent:

Number Name Date 624,663 "Barber -Aug. 14, 1894 1,758,039 .Haubert 1'May :13,193() 2,100,666 Muller Nov. 30,,.193'7 2,130,693 Nashe'et a1 Sept-20,1938 2,181,794 Schlytter Nov. 28, 1939 2,216,662 Eigenheer :Oct. 1, 1940 2,298,115 .Felton Qct. 6, .1942 2,309,734 Klotsch .Feb. (2, 194-3 2,381,793 Wallace Aug. "7, I945 Number Country .Date

.59354 Norway July A, 1938 197,31? Switzerland .July 16,1938 "840242 -France Jan. .11, 1939 Certificate of Correction Patent N 0. 2,472,026.

KENNETH L. PEOK ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 1, line 6, for the Words "easily moved read easily moored; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Uommz'ssianer of Patents.

May 31, 1949. 

